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One Smart Cookie

Everyone who meets Delaynie asks us, “What is she?” Jim and I have discussed several possibilities based on what we know about her so far- dog (she barks and wags her tail), pot bellied pig (she snorts, a lot), or gorilla (well, just look at that nose!).

Regardless of what breed/species she might be, Laynie sure is one smart cookie! She’s been with us for only three weeks and she’s already mastered sit and wait for her food. The minute I pick up her food bowl she goes right to her spot and waits. Take a look:

This week we have started working on ‘here.’ She mastered it on a 6′ leash in no time. Then we moved on to a 30′ lead. It took a couple of tugs the first time, but eventually she got it and now she comes on the first ‘here’ with no pull on the lead!

She even left her baby to come when called.

She came all the way and never looked back!

Next, we’ll try in an area with more distractions, like at the baseball field at the local middle school behind our house. We’re hoping that with enough practice the little monkey will become reliable off leash when called.

We also started working on ‘leave it/take it.’ Laynie picked this one up super fast as well. I put a bunch of treats in my hand and let her sniff. The moment she pulled back and stopped sniffing I said ‘leave it’ and gave her a treat. Once she masters ‘leave it,’ we’ll get to ‘take it,’ where I can put the treat down and she will wait until I tell her ‘take it.’

Laynie being a good girl and 'leaving' the treats in my hand.

We ended the training session, like all good ones should, with some play time as a reward.